Disney World!!

The whole Gubler Gang, (and I mean the WHOLE Gubler Gang) packed our bags and went to Disney World in Orlando, Florida!  For eight glorious days we played from sun up to sun down (and might I add how wonderfully warm that sun was!).  Did you know the Palm Tree is my favorite kind of tree in the whole world?  You'll never see snow on a palm tree.  Ever.

 

First off, may we all shout out a HUGE thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Gubler for making this trip possible for everyone!  And for being the best baby-sitters to Preston, who wasn't always the easiest child to babysit.  And maybe a quick apology to Grandma for wearing her completely out.  Sorry about that :)

On to the parks...

Hollywood Studios

 Highlights:
* This was Caiden's favorite park due to the Tower of Tower ride and the Rockin Roller Coaster ride. 
* Paige was quite Brave all week riding roller coasters too, so it was only fitting that she have her own Brave doll.  I nicknamed her my "little Merida" all week.  She was SO excited and treated that doll like it was fine china.
* Preston is becoming fast friends with Uncle Jason and enjoys riding on his shoulders.  Which was helpful when he decided he was sick of his stroller.
* The perfect weather - not too hot, definitely not cold.  Paige kept asking me "Mom, is this as cold as it gets here?"  Yes!

 Animal Kingdom

* Of course, the Mount Everest ride.  Another of Caiden's favorites.  Even Paige went on this one - miss little Brave :)
* Giraffes, lions, gorillas, hippos, monkeys - we love the animals. 
* Dinoland
* I think this was the park that Preston was naughtiest in.  That explains why Casey is feeding him to a lion in the bottom left picture. 
* The beautiful warm sunny weather :)

Epcot

* See the 3 musketeers in front of the Planets there?  We all took a claustrophobic-G-force-simulated ride to space.  Once back on Earth, we realize we would all have made lousy astronauts.  Nauseated.  Nauseated. Nauseated. All except Caiden.  He loved it and wanted to go again, but no one was willing to go with him.
* I wish I could have gone into every country and eaten at every restaurant :)
* Sunshine
* Warmth
* Palm trees

Sea World

* Shamu!!  We all loved Shamu! The kids got little stuffed Shamu's from Gma and Gpa.
* Loved the dolphin show.  Very impressive!

* Caiden and Paige and Preston had the time of their lives at the "kid park".  There was a Shamu Roller Coaster ride that they rode repeatedly! Along with countless other kid-friendly rides.

* Preston discovered the trains and carousel.  And so did Papa :)

* Casey and I enjoyed the 2 roller coasters here.  I'm so glad he shares in my need to torture myself to go on every ridiculous roller coaster ride.  I love them and hate them at the same time.  The Manta was pretty unforgettable (top left).  Instead of sitting, you are laying flat against the rails with nothing buy sky in front of you!  Except for me; my eyes were shut the whole time! It was awesome.

* Warm, sunny weather :)

 Universal Studios

* Love Universal!
* Another crazy ridiculous roller coaster ride that we did (eyes shut).  On this one, there were speakers on the headrest and you could select what song to listen too while flying about.  Every time I hear the The Black Eyed Peas, I feel strangely anxious.
* There were lots of great shows here.  Caiden tried desparately to volunteer for every show.  He even tried to volunteer me once.  That kid!
* Have I mentioned the perfect weather?

Magic Kingdom

* Such a magical place :)

* How much did Paige love seeing all the Princesses and Mickey Mouse? A lot!

* Space Mountain

* Car ride - Caiden embraced his "inner-Peart" and took me on a crazy car ride.  

* Preston had the time of his life watching the cars go by.

Thank goodness for motorcycles and water!  Now, as you can imagine a Disney World trip is slightly harder with a 2 year old.  Really, he did pretty good.  He loves to be outside and run around.  It's just a little harder to chase him here.  If it weren't for the water features, and his trusty little motorcycle, and food, we would have been in a world of hurt.  My favorite was when he'd try to ride his tiny 3-inch motorcycle (top middle).  We love this kid.

Back at the hotel, there was all kinds of entertainment for the kids too.  A little playground with slides.  Preston was a big fan.  The pool. An arcade room.  Let 's talk about the arcade room.

Funny story.  So we are eating dinner late one night at the adjoining Applebee's Restaurant.  The kids are done eating and are not interested in waiting for the adults to finish, particularly Preston.  So Caiden and Paige offer to take him around the corner to the arcade room.  I agree after giving very strict instructions to watch him The.Whole.Time.  Do not take your eyes off him or your dead.  About 5 minutes later, Caiden comes running into the restaurant - ALONE.  Just as I'm opening my mouth to say "Why aren't you with your brother????!!!!!" he says to me "Mom! Preston fell down and there's a stranger holding him and he won't give him to me!"   WHAT?!?!?!?!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So I RUN out there and this is what I see.  Preston is hysterically crying.  He is in the arms of a young guy.  The guy is holding an ice-cream sandwich to his head.  Beneath the ice-cream sandwich is an enormous goose egg on his forehead, growing right before our eyes. 

I take Preston from him, and I'm trying to calm him down and the guy is freaking out.  Freaking out.  "He's not OK!  You need to call the paramedics!  You need to call the paramedics now!  He needs an x-ray! Now!"  This isn't helping to calm Preston down, not to mention people are staring. At this point Casey is out there and I head for our room.  I hear him pestering Casey "You need to call the paramedics, man! He's not OK!!"

Now, if I had never seen a goose egg like this before (and the picture doesn't do it justice.  It looked like half an egg was protruding out of his head) I would have been freaking out too.  In fact, I did when Caiden got one when he was little.  As soon as I got up to the room, Preston had stopped crying and was happily driving his motorcycle while pointing to his head saying "I bonkie head!"

So once Caiden gets up to the room I say "WHAT.HAPPENED???" (fiercely whisper with me now).  And this is what happened:

"Preston was riding the car ride.  Then I helped him down.  But he tripped when he stood up and smacked his head on the edge.  Then this guy comes running over and takes him from me. And I'm like "Dude, give him to me!" and he's like "Dude no! He's not ok!"  And I'm like "Dude, I got this!" And he's like "Dude no! He needs help!" and I'm like "Dude, give him to me!  I got it! This happens ALL the time!"  and he's like "Dude, WHERE'S YOUR MOM?!" 

It took everything in me to not die laughing.  And if you could have seen Caiden.  It took everything in him to hold back his tears.  I was just happy to hear that he was actually watching and playing with Preston and that he when he realized crazy-man wasn't going to give him up, he immediately got me.  I think that man must have thought we were the most irresponsible parents on the face of the planet!

Anyway, it was a trip to remember, that's for sure!  We had so much fun and soon as we landed in Seattle, everyone did this....